VISAKHAPATNAM: The proposed floating restaurant on Bangladesh-abandoned merchant vessel MV Maa, the first of its kind in south India, will be thrown open for public viewing from December 29.
The vessel will in phases have an open restaurant on the deck, an air-conditioned restaurant in cargo area with a sky roof, and additional facilities like sea-going yacht, cottages and water scooters.
“A visit to the vessel itself will be exciting. Hence we are opening it for public,” said Surender Singh Gill, promoter of Shore and Ship Resorts, which has tied up with AP Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) for the Rs 15-crore project.
In the first phase, the ship and marine works will be developed by Shore and Ship Resorts and infrastructure on the shoreside beach will be put in place by APTDC. As the project is close to popular tourist places like Tenneti Park and Kailasagiri Hills, a separate road and parking lots are being developed at Jodugullapalem beach to avoid traffic congestion, said APTDC managing director S. Satyanarayana.
“The abandoned ship will be an attractive tourist project for the state. Hence we have asked the developers to advance their opening dates, so that it can cater to tourists visiting Vizag this winter season itself,” Satyanarayana told Deccan Chronicle on Friday.
There was a lot of excitement in Visakhapatnam when the vessel ran aground at Tenneti Park on October 12 last year. Thousands closed in to view the ship and took pictures. Police had to cordon off the area to prevent accidental drowning.
The 80-metre Bangladeshi vessel had been anchored at Visakhapatnam on September 19 in ballast condition to load 2,800 tonnes of quartzite for Port of Mongla in Bangladesh. Due to strong winds on the fateful night of October 12, the vessel’s anchor chain snapped and the ship ran aground near Tenneti Park.
The AP government quickly took advantage of the situation and floated the idea of converting it into a floating restaurant. Incidentally, the previous Telugu Desam government had made futile attempts to turn decommissioned aircraft carrier INS Viraat as a major floating hotel.
